The annual report on China's military power, released by the Pentagon at the
end of July, sang an inharmonious tone with the mainstream development of
Sino-US relations in the past few years, according to an article in the People's
Liberation Army Daily.

Based upon Washington's long-held position that China is a potential
challenger to US strategic interests in the Asia-Pacific region, the report
wantonly misrepresents China's strategic goals and defence policies.

The report says an economically powerful China will pursue a strategic
structure in the Asia-Pacific region to its advantage and thus possibly seek
strategic interests in a more extensive way, which will certainly weaken US
influences and challenge Washington-dominated strategic order in the region.

Obviously such a theory is in marked contrast to China's primary goals of
developing the economy and improving its people's living conditions -- goals
pursued since the opening-up and reform programme was adopted in 1978.

The fact is that China has never desired or developed the kind of military
capability necessary for strategic expansion.

Just as Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir bin Mohamad said, Asian countries
have no need to worry about China's ever-increasing military and economic powers
because the country has no tradition of conquest.

The Pentagon report says the major reason for China to give priority to its
national reunification is that the country tries to avoid any challenge to the
existence and the ruling status of the Communist Party of China.

It is obvious that such a conclusion was derived from a deep-rooted
ideological perspective rather than from scientific analysis of China's security
strategy and military objectives from the perspective of neighbouring nations.

In fact, China's strategic interests are more extensive than those the United
States has been concerned about.

China focuses its strategic goals not only upon the ever-changing
international situation, but also upon the traditional or non-traditional
threats posed by terrorism, separatism, extremism, weapons of mass destruction,
cross-border crimes, drug trafficking, ecological deterioration, and the spread
of AIDS.

While analyzing China's strategic security goals, the report plays down the
importance of the threats that China faces, demonstrating the US one-sidedness
and inaccuracy in analyzing the strategy of a major power.

Any conclusions founded upon such an incomplete analysis are unconvincing.

Stressing China's nuclear intentions and military development in the field of
space, the report accuses China of adopting an ambiguous military strategy, and
thus casts doubt over its defensive military policy.

As a developing nation, China's top priority is to safeguard national
security and create a peaceful international environment for its economic
construction.

Permeated with a "China threat'' theory from beginning to end, the report
unfoundedly exaggerates China's military strength to give people a false
impression that Chinese mainland constitutes a serious military challenge to
Taiwan, the United States and its allies in the region.

The report says China's real military expenditure in 2002 was US$65 billion,
thus becoming the world's second largest military power only behind the United
States. At the same time, it predicts that figure will be three or four times
larger by 2020.

Truly, China has increased its military investment for reform and
modernization. But compared with other countries, China's military outlay still
stands at a comparatively low level.

In 2002, its military expenditure was about US$20 billion, only 1.6 per cent
of its gross domestic product (GDP). The rate in the United States was 3.5 per
cent the same year.

If China had really injected as much as US$65 billion into building its
military, how could it focus upon economic construction and maintain the world's
fastest economic growth rate for a number of years?

One of the major reasons for the Pentagon to concoct the report is to expand
US arms sales to Taiwan and maintain its strategic interests in the Asia-Pacific
region.

For a long time the United States has thought of Taiwan as an important chip
to contain China's clout, and taken the separation of Taiwan from China as a key
to realizing its strategic interests in the region.

To this end, the report wilfully disseminates the "threat from Chinese
mainland'' and "Taiwan emergency'' to add crisis awareness to the US and Taiwan
public about the mainland's military might, thus creating a pretext for US
weapons sales to the island.

By exaggerating China's military threat to the United States, the report is
also aimed at hindering normal Sino-US military exchanges and co-operation, said
the article.

A healthy Sino-US relationship is not always welcome to some politicians in
the US administration and Congress,thus some of them lash out at China when
Sino-US relations turn better.

China is a peace-loving nation, and will continue on its long-held peaceful
path. Its military development is aimed at guaranteeing national security,
economic prosperity, and social stability.

To push forward a steady Sino-US relationship that benefits the interests of
both countries and world peace, the United States should decrease its groundless
conclusions.